East seniors Davonte Brunson, Nate Gibson and Mycle Shadie each stepped to the free-throw line during crunch time Tuesday night.
The three guards took turns standing 15 feet from the basket.
They stayed composed as they measured their shots and came through in the clutch to lead East to a 68-60 City Series victory over host Kenmore.
Brunson, Gibson and Shadie combined to make 10-of-12 free throws in the final two minutes and 58 seconds, and Shadie added a jumper to give the Dragons (15-1, 11-0) a 12-4 run to conclude the game and finish off the Cardinals (8-7, 6-5).
The win is the Dragons’ 11th in a row and earned them the City Series regular-season title.
Brunson led East, the No. 7-ranked team in the Associated Press Division II state poll, with 18 points and six rebounds.
“This turned out well,” Brunson said. “The first half, we played horrible. I’m playing on two strained calfs and our team, I guess they were just going off my energy because it looked like everyone was injured out there at times. We all picked it up in the second half and we got the victory.”
East will host Firestone (13-3, 9-2) at 7 p.m. Friday in the City Series regular-season finale. The two teams will meet in the league playoff title game at 7 p.m. on Feb. 17 at Firestone. The Dragons won the first game 100-97 in double overtime at Firestone.
Kenmore led 14-13 after one quarter Tuesday and 33-27 at halftime. East rallied and led 48-46 after three quarters.
Brunson scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half.
Junior forward Brandon Townsend scored 16 points for East.
“In the first half, our defense was terrible and we rushed some stuff a lot on offense,” Townsend said. “We have a lot of determination and I think that is what pulled us through. We don’t give up. We don’t quit.”
Shadie scored 13 points and Gibson finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Dragons senior forward Sir Charles Travis contributed eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Kenmore senior guard Antonio Hearn scored a game-high 19 points and also had seven rebounds and six steals.
“It is always good to win,” East coach Ross Fiorello said. “Kenmore has a nice team and any time Hearn is on the floor, you know he is a threat.
“I wasn’t really pleased with our performance tonight. I wasn’t really pleased with our lack of intensity and our lack of urgency. For a team that is on a winning streak like that, you have to come a little better prepared to play, and that starts with me and then on down.”
Sophomore forward Oshay Vinson and senior guard Dierre Brown both scored 12 points for the Cardinals. Vinson also had eight rebounds and three blocks.
“Down the stretch we did not make enough plays,” Kenmore coach Brian Dawson said. “We turned the ball over a few times and East played some real good defense on us.”
Brunson said he expects a sellout crowd Friday at East for the game with Firestone.
“It is going to be a real hard game,” Brunson said. “They will be coming to get us because we beat them last game in double overtime [on a banked-in 3-pointer from near midcourt by Shadie]. They want to get the win to set the tone for the City Series championship and we want to do the same thing as well. Both teams will come to play hard.”
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MBeavenABJ. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
